Sitting on Bob Babcock’s desk, where it has since 1977, is a placard that says, “Do something − either lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

It’s this motto that led Babcock to a tour in the Vietnam War, a 34-year career at IBM, and once he retired, inspired him to start making books.

“I am a big believer in ‘deeds not words,’ ” Babcock said. “But I didn’t ever think that words would become my deeds.”

Babcock is the founder and owner of Deeds Publishing in Athens. He and his wife, Jan Babcock, have run the company since it was founded in 2005.

In 12 years of operation, Deeds Publishing has released more than 200 titles and won numerous national and state book awards.

“There’s a lot of junk out there. We don’t do junk,” Bob said. “I’m not going to put my name on a book I can’t be proud of.”

To ensure the quality of every book published, Deeds Publishing has a months-long process to bring the book from manuscript to its final form.

The longest and toughest job of getting any book ready to print is editing it, Bob said.

“It’s great when a book comes in already well-edited, but we’re going to read it still,” he said. “We read and edit everything we publish.”

While the manuscript is being prepared by the editing team, authors work with Jan, the company’s president, to market the book. They decide who the target audience is and how to best connect with them.

“We want to start marketing as soon as we can,” Jan said. “It’s critical to build up anticipation for a book before it is released.”

In the design department, Mark Babcock, Bob and Jan’s son, works with the authors to design a cover and lay out the publication.

“Don’t tell me you don’t judge a book by its cover, because you do,” Mark said.

The author is involved with every step of the process. Bob said that’s what makes Deeds different from other publishing houses.

“Unlike other publishers, we don’t say, ‘Get out of the way, this is my deal,’ ” he said. “We don’t take the next step until the author is happy with the one we just took.”

With the book complete in the editing and design departments, Deeds and the author will review a proof before sending the book off to be printed by Ingram.

“We can take a book that was written for somebody’s grandchild or family members and make it available worldwide,” Bob said, adding that all of their books are also available on Amazon and in eBook form.

Photographer Jason Thrasher is working with Deeds Publishing on his soon-to-be-released photo book “Athens Potluck.” He said that without Deeds Publishing, his book would not have taken off.

“I could have attempted this project by myself, but it wouldn’t be anything close to what we have made as a team,” Thrasher said about his partnership with Deeds. “I’m really excited about the collaboration we’ve had on this project.”

An author is not done working when the book is finally printed, however.

“Writing the book is easy; the hard part is selling the book,” Bob said. “Competition is fierce, and it is not for the weak-hearted.”

Luckily for the authors who work with Deeds, Jan knows the secret to selling books.

“If you can’t self-promote, you’re going to be in trouble,” said Jan, who was previously a marketing manager before switching to Deeds in 2010. “You’ve got to be creative; you’ve got to think outside of the box, and you can’t let a day go by without doing something.”

Deeds Publishing is now taking their expertise in selling books to helping other businesses market their products.

Deeds’ marketing department offers web and graphic design, as well as photography, copywriting, print materials and social media services to help clients sell their products– whether that be books or bread.

The Babcocks attribute much of their success to the management style at Deeds Publishing, something they picked up during their more than 50 combined years with IBM.

“IBM has three basic beliefs which we built this business on,” Bob said. “The first belief is respect for the individual. The second is to provide the best customer service possible, whether that be for the people buying our books or the authors who utilize our services. The third belief is to strive for excellence in everything we do. There is no such thing as ‘good enough.’ ”

The Babcocks added a fourth tenet to their management style – do all work with integrity.

“Sometimes, I have to tell an author their baby is ugly,” Bob said. “I’m not just going to lead them down this primrose path; we tell the truth, even if it hurts.”

Deeds is more than a publishing and marketing company, however. They’re also a preservation company, and they preserve memories.

“Everyone has a unique story, and when they’re gone, so are their stories,” Bob said. “They can live on forever in our books, and we love that.”